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Sunday, September 11, 2016

Saturday Show and Tell

Saturday Show and Tell - a showcase of things each week that lit up my brain and fired my imagination. Enjoy!

September with her hair of blue and fingers stained yellow has settled in our yard. I was hoping, somehow, this would be the year that August lingered with his hot breath and sexy bod, but he never does. I'm grateful for pumpkins and burnished aspens and woodsmoke for easing me into the change.

Zoetic Press has released their Alice in Wonderland anthology. All the stories are excellent (I read the whole thing) and there are a lot of them! I'm honored to have my own work tucked between the sheets. You can check it out for a whopping $2, and if you're inclined, leave a review on Goodreads or Amazon. You'd be shocked at how much joy getting reviews means to writers.

Yes, we are all doll faces. It's true.

No sacrificial princess has received the grooming and attention like my entry into the Writers of the Future contest for the 4th quarter did. It weighed in at over 10,000 words, making it a novelette. Their cut-off is 17,000, so it isn't as huge as it sounds. Suddenly, there was a gaping hole in my creative brain. I could no longer spend hours brushing it's hair and changing it's clothes to see what looked best.

I'm hoping I didn't over-groom it.

What was I to do?

Ah, yes. The middle-grader novel sitting on the figurative shelf collecting spiders and dust. I'm at the last 25%, and it's where I feel like I can't keep my head above water. How to manage all those characters and details?

A plot board!

To fight the big battle at the end of this story, all the characters need to have their motivations clearly written, their emotions pinging, and everyone in position. It's overwhelming, so I'm trying to take back the control with this nifty device (which, incidentally, allowed me to browse the school supplies - always a plus!).

Six Acts. I've transcribed eleven scenes so far.

The pink notes are where the tension hums, the rising wave. I'm aiming for a sine wave, similar to the current in our creek.

The orange notes are main characters, the aquamarine are secondary characters, and now you see why I need it all laid out in neat strips to help me not drown.

In what way have you organized something that felt overwhelmingly? I'd love you to share.

2 comments:

Arg. My original post just disappeared. Now I must be a magician and re create the past. Just as you with your words here. The changes of the seasons, so evocative, and yet fresh. And the way you weave this to help us see the needs and hopes of a writer, and in particular, your story! I am in awe.

What a great comment to start my day! Thanks for taking the time to rewrite. I'm sorry your original went the way of socks. I finished the plot board yesterday, so now I have to delve back into trying to finish up that last quarter!

Glad I gave this author a second chance. This one was imaginative, charming, and delightful. The characters were rich and relatable. The plot was straightforward, but every creature and challenge made the story bounce, so that the inevit...